After the ending, through pain and rain
by CauseChicasLoveStarmen
Summary: A simple but heartbreaking fic about what could possibly happen after the end of (the original!) Yume Nikki, featuring some bits of my primary Yume Nikki universe. Mostly written in 1st person from different points of view. Rated T for direct mentions of suicide and death.
1. Ch1: Vacate

_A/N: what if my own primary Yume Nikki universe was a more pessimistic one? (Unlike the more optimistic one in my first and previous Yume Nikki fanfic, the crossover with Baldi's Basics) What if Madotsuki __didn't__ enjoy those dreams she had? And what would the ones living in the dream world think of it? You'll read all about it here. Also, my apologies if this chapter is too short, the future ones __will__ become longer, I promise._

* * *

_Madotsuki's POV_

Dreams. People have them when they sleep, but, on occasion, also while being awake. Dunno why, but it is true.

Me, I'm sick of having them by now. They all seem boring after only just one millisecond, and the effects I've found around them quickly became boring as well. Indeed, I couldn't even put most of them to any good use, so I discarded them all in the Nexus, and decided to wake up afterwards, because meanwhile, I really got sick of life, too.

Once awake, I wrote a final note, in case anyone else in the apartment building would bother to knock on my door and look for me while I'd be gone already.

_Dear person at the door,_

_In case you're looking for me, I'm not around anymore. Physically, I'll be all the way down from my balcony, but mentally, I'll be all the way up, among the bajillions of tiny stars in space. (Or wherever heaven may be located.)_

_-Madotsuki_

I put a piece of tape on the piece of paper, quickly opened the door to stick the note to the other side of it, closed it again, went to my balcony, and breathed in deeply.

'Well' I thought, 'this is it. If anyone wonders where I'll be up next, they really shouldn't…'

Last thing I did, was jump, in order to depart to heaven, or something. Goodbye, world…


	2. Ch2: Meanwhile, in the dream world

_A/N: once again, my apologies for this chapter being quite short as well. You see, I was just trying to find the flow in writing a heartbreaking and mysterious story (which I never really did before), so I hope you all don't mind. ;)_

* * *

_Shitai-san's POV_

Only just a week passed by since the girl named Madotsuki paid a visit, and I already started to feel concerned. (I'm quite an impatient one.)

Why would she suddenly not visit me? Last time (which was also the first time), we had a good conversation about our personal problems, and I was only glad to finally have a conversation partner in this dark, lonely place.

I decided not to lay still the whole time, like all stereotypical corpses did, but to look for the girl named Madotsuki. I arduously got up, and slowly staggered towards the nearest manhole, which led to the White Desert, to ask the Mono sisters, the girls named Monoe and Monoko, on details regarding this.

* * *

_Mafurako's POV_

Not too long ago, I saw a girl in my homeworld. At the time I saw her, I was invisible, so of course it was logical that she wouldn't see me. She gathered a hat and scarf from the spot where a set of such would always spawn, and then mysteriously went away without a trace.

To tell you the truth... that girl looked quite nice to me, and I wish I could've spoken to her once I got the chance. But, the fact that I'm quite an introvert doesn't really help with that.

I decided to go and look for her by myself, but by myself, I couldn't trace her location, so I decided to ask someone else for some help.

I went to the door through which the girl went, into the so-called Nexus. Despite the fact that there were too many doors for me to go through, I still knew how to find the way to the quiet sorceress living among the Pink Sea. The cold conditions of the Snow World wouldn't really bother me anyway, as I always wore a hat and a scarf myself.


	3. Ch3: Where the fog started to clear

_Monoe's POV_

For me, it was one of those average days again, until Shitai-san, who somehow reached me and my sister Monoko in the White Desert, came to us to tell us some news.

"How did you get here?" was the first question I asked.

"A manhole near where I exactly live" Shitai-san answered. "Occasionally, a red tentacle-like thing sticks out of it, and someone once told me that it leads to here, and guess what, it does."

"So that story is true, huh? I'm only just glad to have it confirmed by a real someone. Anyway, what did you want to tell me?"

"Us" Monoko corrected me. "I don't think he only just wants to tell you about it, sis."

"I guess you're right…"

"Do you guys happen to know a girl named Madotsuki?" Shitai-san asked.

Monoko and I shook our heads.

"What does she look like?" I asked.

"Fair-skinned, as tall as you, Monoe, brown hair in braids, and dressed in mostly pink. She also wielded a knife for most of the time."

"I think I may've seen her about a week ago… she looked quite nice, but she suddenly left after I only just saw her for a fraction of a millisecond."

"I saw her, too" Monoko said, "eventually, she was disguised as a traffic light, and once she turned red, I went into crazy mode… dunno how it happened, but it surely was strange, I must confess."

"Ah, the traffic light effect that I always give to visitors… you see, I saw her a week ago as well, but ever since leaving this world, I haven't seen her anymore. Aren't you concerned?"

"Quite so."

"Not at all… I didn't even get to really know her anyway."

"Monoko, it's kind of rude to not be concerned about someone who sort of went missing recently." I looked at my sister with a serious look in my eyes.

"Sorry. Shitai-san, if you're planning on looking for her, I'm in, no matter if I know her or not."

"Good" Shitai-san said, "because I was indeed planning on looking for her, originally on my own, but now that you're in, Monoko, we might as well look for her as a threesome, which may just seem easier."

I nodded, and, along with Monoko, showed Shitai-san the easiest way to the Nexus, which was through the Block World.

* * *

_Poniko's POV_

I just finished working on a new potion when suddenly, Mafurako from the Block World came towards my house.

"Good day, Poniko" she greeted me.

"Good day to you too, friend" I said. "Are you here to test my new potion?"

"No. I'm here to ask you a question on something."

"Ask away."

"Have you seen someone special recently?"

"How do I put this? I haven't seen anyone really 'special' lately, but I have seen someone a week ago. Any chance she's mostly dressed in pink and has braids in her hair?"

Mafurako nodded. "I've only seen her very briefly in my homeworld, but at the same time, I was invisible. How did you experience her?"

"Well, last week, she only appeared to come and play with my light switch while I was still working on the potion, but it annoyed me so much, that I summoned Uboa to get me away from her. Ever since, I haven't seen her anymore."

"I see. Doesn't it concern you? Because it does concern me, as I wanted to meet her, and, if possible, become friends…"

"I don't know if this really should concern me… she did look nice, but I'm not sure if she really meant to annoy me or not…"

"Okay. In any case, thank you for taking your time to speak to me. Now, that potion… it kind of made me curious by now, what does it cause once someone drinks it?"

"It enhances vision in the way of being able to see foot- or fingerprints better. If you'd like to try it, feel free."

"No, but thanks for the offer anyway." I sat down on the floor, and a thought suddenly got to me. "But what if…?"


	4. Ch4: Many mysteries revealed

_Shitai-san's POV_

"I know exactly where to go" I said, "because the girl named Madotsuki told me that she loved music, and I know where someone lives who loves music as well."

"But how do we get there?" Monoe asked.

"Hey, sis" Monoko said, "never heard of the beds in certain worlds that warp you to that one location?" She went into her 'crazy mode', closed her eyes, and started surrounding the presence of such a bed. (She's some sort of a psychic.) "The closest one is in the Candle World."

"Oh, how could I possibly forget your ability to do such things…? Thank you so much." Monoe nearly squeezed Monoko to the loss of consciousness with a hug. "I'm not the type that remembers such things, sorry…"

"Hey, it's okay, sis, it's not that twins are meant to both be the exact same person. Aside of that, isn't, like, every individual different?"

"C'mon, we should probably go and visit Masada before the warp spot goes to a different bed."

The three of us were about to depart to the candle world, when suddenly, the girl named Mafurako noticed us.

"Good day, you lot" she said, "any chance you're looking for someone?"

"Quite" I replied. "We're looking for the girl named Madotsuki. She has fair skin, brown hair tied in braids, is as tall as Monoe, mostly dressed in pink, and wields a knife."

"Mind if I go along? See, I'm looking for her, too. I already asked Poniko, the sorceress of the Pink Sea, on any details, but she doesn't have too many of them. Last week, she sent the girl away with her famous Uboa spell…"

"Who-boa?" (I've never seen the sorceress named Poniko and her spells before.)

"Uboa." Mafurako took a small sketchbook out of her inner pocket and showed us a drawing of what it looked like.

"Ah, that spell" Monoe said. "She summoned it to shoo me and Monoko from her house after Monoko messed around with the light switch for only just a fraction of seconds."

"Hey, I was only trying to get a response from her when she didn't reply to our greeting!" Monoko snapped.

"Whoa there, guys" I said, as I pushed the twins away from each other, "settle down, we're here to warp somewhere, not to pick fights."

"My solemn apologies, Shitai-san. C'mon, y'all, we really should head for the bed in the Candle World now…"

* * *

_Seccom Masada-sensei's POV_

I was revising yet another song on my electric piano when I suddenly heard the sound of the rain outside.

'Guess we have another visitor' I thought, 'I wonder who it could be…?' I played a few more notes, but got interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

I decided to take a look, and a group of four had arrived in my spaceship.

"Good day, Seccom Masada-sensei" the only man of the group greeted us. He looked like he could be anything in the way of a zombie, but not the flesh-hungry kind, ironically.

Along with him were the Mono sisters, and a girl who donned a hat and a scarf.

"Good day to you all, too" I said. "I see you've come with a group, but I do not provide group lessons if it comes to music, unfortunately, so if that's the case, then no."

"We didn't come here for the music" the girl with the hat and the scarf said. "We've come here to ask you a question. Speaking of music, did anyone come here for that a week ago, by any chance?"

"Yes. She came here with a flute, but after a while of playing, the ship suddenly crash-landed on Mars before we could finish our duet…"

"Seems like a lot of us have seen her exactly a week ago… I've heard stories of the Mono sisters and Shitai-san here, regarding all that, the sorceress of the Pink Sea told me all about it, and now you mentioned it as well. Me, I've seen her last week as well."

"That surely is a coincidence. Any chance she looked the same to all of you, too? Brown hair, pink clothes, and a knife?"

The group nodded in unison.

"I highly doubt that she has the ability to make clones of herself" Monoko said. "She looks too much like an ordinary person to do so."

"We cannot know" Monoe said. "Not all ordinary-looking people are ordinary at heart as well…"

Suddenly, the girl with the hat and scarf looked surprised, as if she noticed something important.

"What is it, Mafurako?" the man named Shitai-san asked.

"I just got this idea" the girl with the hat and the scarf, whose name appeared to be Mafurako, said, "listen closely. Only just a few minutes ago, I asked Poniko, the sorceress living among the Pink Sea, for details on the same girl, and at the same time, she finished a potion, which enhances vision so that one can see fingerprints and such with the bare eye. I think we all should have a drop of that potion of hers so we can trace that girl. What do you all think?"

"Hey, that idea doesn't sound too bad" I said.

"Sounds good to me, too" Monoko said. "With the help of both the potion and my sensing abilities, we should be able to find her easily."

"Yeah" Monoe added.

"In that case" Shitai-san said, "we should become a group of five now, and then look for her that way."

And thus, I joined the now group of five, and we ventured through the many mysterious paths and halls to reach the Pink Sea.


	5. Ch5: The path to the unknown

_Poniko's POV_

I had successfully tested my long-awaited potion just now, and just after its effect faded away thanks to the usual normalising remedy I made for myself every week, I got a visitor once again.

"Good day again, Poniko" Mafurako said. "I brought some more visitors." She and four others came into my house.

"Welcome, everyone" I said, "and welcome again, Mafurako. Please, have a seat, it looks like you guys have planned something urgent and important and want me to be involved in it as well."

"How do you possibly know?" the tall, monochrome man with the googly eyes said. "That's exactly what we came here for!"

"Go ahead, I'm all ears."

"Mafurako told us that you just finished a potion that enhances vision" the monochrome girl with the pigtails said, "but way before that, Shitai-san told me and my sister that a girl – of whom I kind of forgot her name already – came to visit him a week ago, and that he's already concerned about her absence, so, long story short, the five of us eventually came together to look for her…"

"And we kind of need your help here" Mafurako said. "That potion enhances vision to the point where fingerprints and such become visible too, right? Well, could we all please have some of that potion so we can possibly look for her foot- and fingerprints?"

I got an ordinary notebook to write down all of the details on all that the two told me.

'Well, this is interesting' I thought, 'in that case, I should probably go along with them, because now, they kind of got me there, too.'

"Well?" the other monochrome girl asked once I was done writing.

"I'll go along with you guys" I replied, as I got six miniature cups in which I poured a bit of my new potion each. "But first, we all should take a sip of this, otherwise, we'll never get anywhere with it."

We all took the potion, and then, the true search had started.

* * *

_Mafurako's POV_

Right now, we were a group of six: me, the Mono sisters, Shitai-san, Masada, and Poniko.

We followed a trail that especially consisted of footsteps, which became visible because of the potion we took not too long ago.

However, back in the Snow World, the footsteps barely seemed to be visible, because of the massive layers of snow that would refresh every millisecond, or something.

"There's so much snow around here" I said, "that my vision is almost obscured. Even without my hat covering my eyes, it's still the case."

"Tell me about it" Monoko said. "Wait, let me try something…" She went into her 'crazy mode', and sensed her surroundings. "Goshdarnit, I even can't track footsteps or the door out of here this way." She turned back to normal.

"That's it!" Poniko said, "the door! Come along, I know someone around here who can show us the way to it."

The six of us went to a different igloo, where a Toriningen stood. She looked sane enough to be talked to.

"Good day, my lady, could I ask you a favour?"

"Well, a good day to you too, miss" the Toriningen replied. "Of course, ask away."

"See, there's so much snow that it obscures our vision, and I know that you know this world like the back of your hand, so my favour to you is to guide us to the door to the Nexus?"

"But of course, where are my manners! Come along with me, I exactly know the way, even in the most intense of snowstorms."

The six of us followed the Toriningen along to the door. Of course, we held on to each other so we wouldn't get lost and split up that way.

Once we got to the door, I could see fingerprints on it.

"Thank you very much, my lady" Poniko thanked the Toriningen, "have a great day."

"No problem, you lot" the Toriningen replied, "ditto." She even opened up the door for us, and let us through. "Take care."

Shitai-san was the last one of us to pass through the door, and closed it.

"Look!" Monoe said, as she pointed towards a plain-looking door in the Nexus that none of us ever noticed before. "I've never seen that door before, but the footsteps lead towards it!"

"I can see some fingerprints on that door, too" Masada said, "so this may just be the door where the girl got through."

The six of us went through the door, which led to a bedroom of some sort.

"Huh" I said, as I inspected the floor and the balcony. "Looks like the footprints stop here. Wait, isn't that a bed? I wonder if it could warp us somewhere else than just the path to Masada's place?"

Monoko nodded and went into her crazy mode again to sense the surroundings.

"I can feel something special coming from that bed" she said. "It warps towards a different world indeed. Perhaps we should try it out?"

* * *

_Starting from here, the story will be told in third person._

The group of six successfully warped to the 'real' world through the bed in the regular bedroom.

"Well, that's strange" Poniko said, "are we still in the same room, or have we warped to the alternate universe already by now?"

"There's only one way to prove that" Masada said, as he opened the door, which didn't lead to the Nexus this time. "See? No Nexus. But a note instead…" He took his time to read the note that stuck to the door. "Oh dear, this doesn't look too good."

"What is it, Masada?" Mafurako asked.

Masada gestured towards Mafurako to come towards the other side of the door, while Poniko went towards the balcony to follow more footsteps she suddenly saw. Both girls were absolutely shocked by their discoveries each.

"Oh my goodness!" Poniko exclaimed. "Guys, she's all the way down there! I think… she's dead…!" She swallowed her tears as the five others hurried towards the balcony as well.

"Why in the world would she…?" Shitai-san mumbled. "Was it all of the negativity that took over? It surely surprises me, because she sounded quite chipper last time we spoke."

"Not all chipper-looking people are also chipper from the inside…" Monoe said. "In any case, I'm highly shocked, too."

"Well then…" Mafurako said, in between a starting flow of sobs. "I guess this is 'until we meet again'…?"

Monoko rubbed Mafurako's back in order to comfort her.

"To be honest" she said, "I cannot believe she did this either. "We should probably arrange a funeral of our own back in the dream world, for the sake of us who still wanted to meet her."

"Not a bad idea either" Masada said. "In that case, we'll probably still remember her deep in our hearts…"


	6. Ch6: The night of the funeral

_A/N: sorry if the funeral speeches in this chapter seem a bit... well, you know, 'meh', but you see, I've never been to a funeral myself before, so I just had to improvise a little something with the help of some internet tips. Also, the sad song that I used in this chapter is a Japanese song named 'Shinobi-game' (or 'Stealth Turtles' in English), and guess from which of my main fandoms it is...! If you'd like, feel free to listen to it or read the translated lyrics somewhere, but I'm warning you: no matter in what case, this song could hit you quite hard. tl;dr please enjoy this last chapter! :)_

* * *

Only just a day later, Madotsuki's funeral took place in the dream world. With the help of Poniko's magic, her body could be transported to it safely and stainless. (Except for the blood stains that it contained, of course.)

The funeral was decided to be held in the Dense Woods, near both Shitai-san's home and the manhole that occasionally led to the White Desert.

A hole had already been dug for the casket, which now contained Madotsuki's body, to be lowered into soon. Behind the hole, a tombstone had been erected into the ground, in which the following had been engraved:

_R.I.P. Madotsuki, ± 1990 – 2004. Someone mysterious, but special too. May you fly high, and be remembered in our hearts._

The rain was pouring like crazy, which made the atmosphere even sadder than the funeral itself.

Shitai-san was the one to hold the improvised speech at first, as he knew most of the details on Madotsuki.

"Ladies…" he started, "and gentleman. ('Gentleman' because Masada was the only man listening.) Last week, all of us suddenly got involved with a case. Quite a special one, indeed. It regarded the girl named Madotsuki, wandering around our homeworlds, only to seemingly find effects to use throughout the many worlds, and nothing else. She wasn't too happy with the way she lived, but she loved to do a lot of things. I seem to be the only one with whom she really had a good conversation, aside of Masada, but he had a conversation with Madotsuki in one of the more beautiful forms… music. Sadly, only just a day ago, as it seems after our discovery… she chose to depart to heaven for reasons unknown to us, both in the dream world and the alternate universe. One last thing I'd like to say… Madotsuki, may you fly high through the bajillions of tiny stars in space, find peace there, and until we meet again, no matter if it's in dreams or reality." Afterwards, he wiped a few tears away, and let Monoko and Poniko do their speech.

"As a sorceress and a psychic" Poniko started, "I, Poniko, and Monoko, have done most of the effort in our search for Madotsuki, someone whom we, unfortunately, never got to befriend. My part of the search started with Mafurako, who asked for details, and then bumped into Monoe, Monoko, and Shitai-san, who happened to look for the same person."

"With the help of both my psychic powers and Poniko's magic" Monoko said, "our group stumbled upon a lot of details, only resulting into this deep, sad discovery. My powers detected that Madotsuki, the girl with the many 'faces', including a traffic light, only died yesterday, prior to us discovering her for real." She held up a small box filled with about 24 egg-like things. "These here are the bane of her many 'faces', also known as the effects that spawn throughout our worlds. I presume that these have also helped her venture through the many worlds, much like our experience…" She shed a few tears.

"I'd like to conclude this speech by sending love and peace to everyone, and that the girl named Madotsuki will always have a special place in our hearts, no matter how well we've known her. Until we meet again, in between the bajillions of tiny stars in space…"

A small but loving applause was given by the group of six, who were all in tears, and next thing that happened, was the casket slowly being lowered by the Mono sisters, while the CD player, which stood underneath an umbrella for safety, played a sad song:

_Ame shizuka ni kami o nurashi_  
_kaze tsumetaku hoho utsu_  
_Yuki kasuka ni mau tameiki shinshin tsunorimasuu_

_Taete taetemo ashita wa tooku_  
_yurare yurarete nijimu namida_  
_Nagare nagasare sugaru omoi mune ni shimaimasuu_

_Isso kono yo wa yoru ni tomadou shinobi-game_

_Ai tsumuide mi ni matoi_  
_yume tsudzutte samayou_  
_Kono kizutsuki wareta kokoro nido towa modorimasenu_

_Taete taetemo ashita wa tooku_  
_yurare yurarete nijimu namida_  
_Nagare nagasare shinobu omoi suna ni ukabemasuu_

_Isso kono yo wa yoru ni tomadou miren-game…_

Once the casket had been lowered all the way into the ground, Shitai-san and Masada made sure that the hole was shut properly. When that was done as well, Poniko gently put the small box of effects on top of the grave.

"May these effects come to a good use all the way in space, too…" she whispered, her vision being blurred by tears.

Mafurako put Madotsuki's diary, which she retrieved from her room the previous day, next to the box of effects.

"I'm sure that the entries that are written in here will be all the way illegible by the time one of us comes to read it someday…" Masada said, as he put a small flute onto the grave. "But music… it never fades away. Not even from you."

Once the six-some finished the funeral with something to drink, they went back to their respective homeworlds.

Ever since the discovery (and death) of Madotsuki, she was never forgotten by anyone who resided in the dream world.


End file.
